Remember when one of the most exciting things to do in the run up to Christmas Day was to make a note of the best Christmas films that were on TV throughout the holiday season?

That particular joy has now been replaced with on-demand streaming. So, these days your biggest problem is probably going to be decision-paralysis as there are so many to choose from!

To help you whittle down the list, from traditional family favourites to romantic comedies and full-on action, here are 10 Christmas films to watch this holiday season.

1. Home Alone

It may be 30 years since Home Alone became a box office hit, but it remains a firm family favourite today.

Directed by John Hughes with a score from John Williams, Macaulay Culkin plays 8-year-old Kevin McCallister. When he’s accidently left behind at home when his family leave for their annual holiday, through a series of hilarious festive antics, Kevin successfully manages to dissuade and disarm two unwitting burglars.

So far, there have been four sequels to Home Alone, the latest release arrived on Disney+ in 2021 entitled Home Sweet Home Alone.

2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Based on Dr Seuss’s 1957 children’s book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas should be a compulsory Christmas watch.

Expertly portrayed by the brilliant Jim Carrey, The Grinch expresses his hatred for the festive season as he attempts to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.

Despite the Grinch’s attempts to remain unmoved by the holiday celebrations, a little Who girl named Cindy Lou attempts to bring the Christmas spirit to the curmudgeonly creature at the top of the mountain.

More recently, this tale was retold in a 2018 animated remake starring Benedict Cumberbatch – which is another Christmas film worth adding to your festive watch list.

3. The Muppet Christmas Carol

We agree with all those who believe the Alistair Sim version of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is one of the best Christmas films ever made – it’s made this list. However, as an accessible option for children of all ages, the Muppet version is a worthy substitute that can’t go unmentioned.

Starring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, the traditional story is reimagined by Kermit and the rest of the gang.

It also includes a whole host of catchy songs that you, and your children, will be singing all the way to the new year.

4. Scrooged

An updated version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Bill Murray stars as Frank Cross – a TV boss who hates Christmas.

As Christmas approaches, his TV channel is working on a live version of Dickens’ story. Due to be broadcast on Christmas Eve, Cross is horrified to find real-life starting to mimic the fictional story, when three ghosts arrive to show him the error of his ways.

Centred around a standout performance from Murray, this festive comedy is a lively – and sometimes slapstick – retelling of the classic Christmas story.

5. The Holiday

Written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as joint leads, The Holiday is the definitive festive feel-good romcom.

Filmed in California and England, Iris (Winslet) and Amanda (Diaz) are on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Finding themselves dumped and single in the days before the Christmas holiday season, the two lovesick strangers arrange to swap homes.

As English rose, Iris, finds herself in a palatial Hollywood mansion, Amanda navigates the lanes of a picture-perfect English village. While adjusting to the strange situation they find themselves in, they both bump into local guys (Jude Law and Jack Black) and enjoy unexpected holiday romances.

6. Love, Actually

Who doesn’t love a Richard Curtis romcom? In Love, Actually, an all-star cast create a classic feel-good romantic comedy.

As ageing rockstar Billy Mack (played by the almighty) Bill Nighy makes an assault on the Top Ten with his cover of Love is All Around, British Prime Minister, David, played by Hugh Grant, falls for his secretary Natalie. Meanwhile, David’s sister, played by Emma Thompson suspects her husband, Alan Rickman, of having an affair with a younger woman.

Also starring Colin Firth, Kiera Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Martine McCutcheon, and Martin Freeman among many others, Love Actually became an instant Christmas staple. Although it may not be suitable for younger members of the family.

7. It’s a Wonderful Life

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without this traditional favourite, particularly in America. In fact, according to the American Film Institute, It’s a Wonderful Life is the 20th best American film of all time.

James Stewart plays George Bailey, a devoted family man contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve. Watching from heaven, and desperate to earn his wings, his guardian angel Clarence comes to his rescue.

Clarence shows George a version of reality in which he was never born. Seeing his hometown of Bedford Falls reduced to vice and poverty and his wife lonely, George begs for a return to his old, wonderful life.

Made in 1946, it remains a festive feel-good classic that can’t be missed, even if it might struggle to hold the attention of younger children.

8. Miracle on 34th Street

Originally released in 1947 and starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, and Natalie Wood, Miracle on 34th Street was updated and remade in 1994, with Richard Attenborough starring in the main role.

Kris Kringle berates a drunken Santa and takes his place in the Cole’s Department Store Thanksgiving Parade. Making a memorable impression, Kringle is taken on as the store’s resident Santa for the rest of the festive period.

When he winds up in court, framed by the original drunk Santa, his lawyer finds that, if he’s to get Kringle released, he must prove to the jury not only that Santa exists, but that Kringle is the real one.

Although the 1997 remake didn’t receive the three Academy Awards the original won, it is a captivating and magical festive film.

9. Die Hard

While families may argue about whether this truly counts as a Christmas movie, we believe Die Hard is the archetypal “alternative” festive film.

NYPD officer John McClane (played by Bruce Willis) is in Los Angeles. In a bid to save his failing marriage, he intends to join his wife, Holly, at her office Christmas party, on the upper floors of Nakatomi Plaza.

However, before the festivities can begin, the high rise is taken over by a group of armed terrorists led by Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber.

Escaping from the initial takeover, McClane must work out how to evade the terrorists long enough to get back up and save Holly, along with the rest of Gruber’s hostages.

This action film classic spawned four sequels, the second of which, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, retains the original’s Christmas Eve setting.

10. Gremlins

Another debatable Christmas movie, this classic comedy horror makes the cut because it begins with unsuspecting Billy Peltzer (Zach Gilligan) receiving an early Christmas present from his father Randall.

A cute creature, known as a “mogwai”, and named “Gizmo”, the animal comes with just three rules for looking after it: don’t expose it to light, don’t get it wet, and never feed it after midnight.

While Billy begins with good intentions, after a friend spills water on Gizmo, the mogwai begins to multiply. And it isn’t long before the other rules are broken, unleashing far more mischievous and dangerous Gremlins, led by the aggressive Stripe.